ROHT: ðnsamfélagið Og Framtíð Þess 12" (new)

Iðnsamfélagið Og Framtíð Þess which roughly translates to "Industry and its Future", is taking the oddity and isolationism of hardcore punk and industrial noise and smashing them even further together than they did on previous releases. This is the sound of a band perfecting its approach to the world. And we can't get enough. At first listen it is what seems to be a simple formula of bass, noise, drums and vocals but as you continue to listen, delicate layers of depression, life, anger, creativity, emergence and deconstruction begin to unfold until you find yourself trapped in a dystopian clamor void of hellish nothingness. Industry and its future indeed.

Our take: After a handful of earlier records, Iron Lung brings us the debut 12” from Iceland’s ROHT. ROHT have a grinding, grimy sound like a violent collision of the industrial and digital ages. The mechanical clap of the drum machines and the bass’s heavy thud sound like they were recorded on a mid-century factor floor, but the screeches and squelches occupying the higher frequencies seem to come from an army of malfunctioning modems. If you like the maximalist bleakness of L.O.T.I.O.N. you’ll love ROHT; in fact, from a musical standpoint, ROHT’s heavier production and sludgy yet catchy riffs (somewhere between Hoax and Bleach-era Nirvana) are even more powerful. This is ugly, difficult music, but it’s packed with power and brimming with subtle and hypnotic textures. In other words if you like the progressive hardcore that Iron Lung specializes in you shouldn’t let this one slip by.